Thanksgiving and Prayer

DAILY READING

 Colossians 1:3-15

REFLECTION

Hope and Jesus

by Elaine Pierce

Faith, hope and love - how often do we see those three words grouped together in scripture? I'm guessing you thought about I Corinthians 13, didn't you? That's where my mind went. Let's take a closer look at how Paul talks about faith, hope and love in the first chapter of Colossians.   

"We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel.' (Emphasis added).

Why must hope exist first? Why do you need hope before you have faith and love? It's so easy to think of 'faith, hope and love' as one entity, but clearly, Paul is telling us that faith and love spring from the hope that is stored up for us in heaven.  

I hope it doesn't rain.....I hope the Buckeyes win.....I hope I get the job.....I hope she says yes to my marriage proposal. This hope isn't the kind of hope Paul is describing. At best, hope without Christ is a confident attitude, an optimistic state of mind - a desire for a positive outcome. But hope based on Christ is far, far more - God is the basis for hope for those who believe in him. I could point you to many, many verses, but let's look at one from both the Old and New Hope and Jesus Testaments as examples of hope based on who God is:

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,

for my hope is from him. - Psalm 62:5

 

“For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?” (Romans 8:24)

Hope is not a feeling. Our hope is based on a person. We will recite the Lord's Prayer in worship as we do every week, and today's sermon will focus on the second and third petitions: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." We long for God's will to be done. We pray for that daily. And we do so in the strong assurance that what our hope - for God's kingdom to come and his will to be done - will ultimately prevail. Thanks be to God for this hope.  

On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand - it's an old, old hymn, but the words ring true.  Take less than 2 minutes and worship as you hear these truths sung. Thanks be to our Solid Rock, on whom our hope is based.